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Spotlight on S&T - January 2006

MARSIE Trial: A "Success Story"

Photo by Donald Glencross - DRDC Atlantic.
The SLOCUM Glider, one of the DRDC's seven technologies tested during the MARSIE Trial, is deployed for the exercise. The SLOCUM Glider can carry out surveillance in littoral waters for up to one month between battery changes and can travel 1000 km during this period.

Since the tragic events of September, 2001, the security of Canada's coast has become a an important consideration for the Government of Canada. Given this, Defence R&D Canada (DRDC) led a project in collaboration with a number of international partners to evaluate maritime surveillance equipment to determine the most efficient way to detect vessels navigating Canadian waters. These sensors can also serve to counter illegal activities and threats to Canada.

Over the course of the month of October, DRDC held a trial called MARSIE (Maritime Sensor Integration Experiment) using a number of sensors that tracked three simulated smuggling operations from the U.K. to Nova Scotia from the land, aircraft and ships. The MARSIE trial also involved the RCMP, the Canadian Coast Guard, Environment Canada and a number of other organizations from Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom.

The MARSIE trial gained broad media coverage across Canada.

"It's a success story," said Commander Tony Cond, of DRDC's Director S&T Maritime, who coordinated the trial. Speaking to representatives from major Canadian media in a news conference held at the end of the three-week exercise on 27 October, Cmdr Cond added: "Canada's public needs to know that something is being done about protecting our coastline."

The object of the exercise, conducted in Nova Scotia's Chedabucto Bay, was to collect data from different sensors on a common incursion scenario into the Maritimes.

Seven different technologies developed by DRDC were used during the trial, such as the Stealth Buoy, the SLOCUM Glider, the Infrared Eye (IR Eye) and the Enhanced Low Light Visible and Infrared Surveillance System (ELVISS).

The data collected is being used to evaluate the effectiveness of operational and experimental technologies used in the trials and the capacity to maintain the security of Canadian waters.

Photo by Janice Lang - DRDC Ottawa.
An aerial view of the various sensors set up for the exercise at Nova Scotia's Janvrin Point.